A good thing happened Saturday night in downtown Russellville when Main Street Russellville sponsored the first summer concert series show.

We’re told there will also be free shows in July and August. On this Saturday night, a number of local bands and artists played some hot music and gave people who live in the Arkansas River Valley something to do. It also brought folks downtown and let many people actually look around and see what is going on in the area around the Railroad Depot where the concert took place. Many, many people simply drive by downtown every day without looking around or paying attention to all that is happening.

I think this was pretty cool. And I applaud the effort to give local residents, and any visitors who are in town, the chance to get out and do something without having to drive elsewhere for entertainment.

Since we’ve become a city without a festival, I admire the original thought a group like Main Street Russellville is showing by coming up with something for residents to do. This musical effort may also grow to a point where it becomes part of the city’s identity. Most of us would love to see other groups and organizations in the River Valley come up with such ideas and purpose.

The Johnson County Peach Festival is coming up in July, and the Mt. Nebo Chicken Fry isn’t far off, either. Still, we all would like to see more events like the summer concert series.

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Saturday, my young bride, Rosemary, and I will attend the Quarles Family Reunion at Toadsuck Park on the shore of the Arkansas River in Faulkner County, near Conway.

The reunion brings together folks from my mother’s side of the family. A few years ago a cousin renewed the effort to bring family together on a summer’s day, and the plan caught on.

It is always good for me to see my cousins, aunts and uncles. The main reason I go is because my dad, Big Rex, and brother, Big Todd, will be there.

Being with those two in a relaxing setting is always one of the highlights of my year. It seems like there is never enough time in our busy lives to just sit with my father and brother and relax. Next year, I think Rosemary and I will host the reunion and I’d like to have it at Mt. Nebo State Park. Besides Toadsuck, I can’t think of a better place for the family to gather.

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Let’s hear it for the Russellville Kiwanis Club, whose members are raising money as part of a worldwide effort to eliminate tetanus.

You can read about the effort in last Saturday’s Courier in a front page story by reporter Rebecca Soard.

My buddy, Arnold Bowden, reports a dose of vaccine costs just $1.80. That’s all it takes to save a life of a child in many counties around the world. That’s the price of a drive-through soda, folks.